A SECOND Liberal National Party MP has claimed Clive Palmer’s PUP approached him in an attempt to lure him to switch parties.

Following allegations by Member for Burleigh Michael Hart that a PUP envoy tried to entice him with financial sweeteners - an assertion refuted by the party’s state leader Alex Douglas - Member for Whitsunday Jason Costigan today said a PUP member also approached him a week later, but without a financial incentive.

“They said they could ... help me with my campaign if I was their candidate and rambled on how they needed one more MP to form the official opposition,” he said.

Mr Palmer said both MPs’ claims had been made up by Premier Campbell Newman.

Earlier, it was reported Mr Hart had claimed to police that he was offered an open-ended inducement to join Mr Palmer’s party.

Mr Hart has alleged in a police complaint that he was invited to name his price for switching allegiances by an emissary claiming to act for Palmer’s United Party.

PUP Queensland leader Alex Douglas, who holds the seat of Gaven, admitted today that someone representing the party had approached Mr Hart but denied any inducement was offered.

It is understood the Palmer party is also interested in courting other LNP MPs and has spoken to at least three sitting members.

It believes at least one will soon jump ship and join PUP.

Mr Douglas and Yeerongpilly MP Carl Judge have joined Palmer’s United Party after leaving the LNP.

Any new defections could give Mr Palmer’s party the numbers in State Parliament to oust Labor as the official Opposition, in an alliance between PUP, Katter’s Australia Party and the Independents.

Mr Hart last night confirmed to The Courier-Mail that he had lodged the police complaint last week over the alleged approach on April 9 but declined to identify the PUP envoy, saying only that he was “known on the Gold Coast”.

“What really worried me was the next thing he said was ‘what can I offer you to come across to the Palmer Party?’” Mr Hart said.

“I basically slammed the door in his face then and reported the matter to police.”

News_Image_File: Federal MP Clive Palmer says he knows nothing about an alleged approach to Burleigh MP Michael Hart to encourage him to join the PUP.

Mr Palmer last night insisted he had no knowledge of an approach to Mr Hart and did not believe his claims because he was not in the business of using intermediaries to do his political work.

“No-one I know approached him and I don’t work through intermediaries my friend, goodbye,” he said.

It is illegal in Queensland to offer an MP any type of incentive to influence their electoral behaviour.

But he said Mr Hart’s claims about an inducement being offered were entirely false.

“Number one, I didn’t speak to him,” Dr Douglas said.

“And the inducement issue is an absolute lie and we’re going to compel him to retract it.”

Asked if anyone from the Palmer party had spoken to Mr Hart, Dr Douglas said: “Yes there’s people who have spoken to him. Yes they have.

“It was basically to say: ‘Michael we know you’re not going to be pre-selected or endorsed by the party (at the next election) and if you want to have a career, you are welcome to come and discuss that with us.”

The inducement allegation will further inflame the bitter feud the Federal MP for Fairfax and his party is having with the Newman Government.

Mr Palmer yesterday revealed plans to sue Campbell Newman for defamation over the Premier’s claims on the weekend that the wealthy mining magnate used cash and job incentives to lure three Northern Territory MPs to his party.

News_Rich_Media: Three indigenous MPs who walked out on the Northern Territory's Giles government have joined the PUP.

Mr Newman will be the second Queensland Premier sued by Mr Palmer who also took action against Anna Bligh.

“The things he said about me were very scandalous and untrue,” Mr Palmer said.

“He needs to explain what he meant and what evidence he’s got of it.”

Mr Hart said he was unaware which other LNP members had been courted by PUP but was confident there were others if secret alliance plans had been concocted by the crossbenches.

“They suggested to me that they only needed one more State Member to become the official opposition in Queensland and if I’d be interest in coming across to Palmer,” he said.

Mr Hart said his conversation with the Palmer Party representative began on another pretext but quickly descended into warnings that damaging revelations about Newman Government members would surface during an inquiry PUP planned to kickstart when it held the balance of power in the Senate.

“They said that when they took control of the Senate there would be a public inquiry into the Queensland Government to work out why some things had been happening,’’ he said.

“They sort of intimated that there was certain information they had about some members and they would be asking questions about the behaviour of some members.”

A Palmer United Party source yesterday said “more than 12” Government MPs had spoken with the Member for Fairfax in recent months with Labor predicting the greatest electoral pain for the LNP would occur on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts.

“I can confirm to you that we are in discussions with many backbenchers in the State Parliament, who’ve expressed their concern about (Mr Newman’s) leadership or lack of it,” Mr Palmer said.

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